Employment rights for the displaced: Making work fair and safe

Speakers:
Paola Pace, Deputy Chief of Mission and Senior Regional Project Manager, IOM
Filipa Matos, VP of Special Operations, Remote
Jina Krause-Vilmar, President & CEO, Upwardly Global
Zulum Avila -Specialist on Employment Strategies in the Digital Economy, ILO
Moderator: Lye Ogunsanya

The majority of refugees (70%) live in places that place restrictions on the right to work. Digital work has been seen as one way that refugees could be more economically included as it is thought to offer more democratised employment opportunities. Displaced populations, who do not have the legal right to work in local labour markets and live in places with few opportunities, could equally access this growing digital workplace. While digital work is perhaps the most nascent form of employment for displaced people, more ‘traditional’ employment is still much more common, yet without equal access to formality, this is often exploitative.The hope is that digital work could lead to more decent work for refugees. While informality is still often equated to precarious and exploitative work, a phenomenon which is certainly evident in the digital space, this “informal” work is preferential to the conditions faced in informal jobs in the host countries. Essentially, the issue is not whether digital work is preferential, but how refugees should be allowed legal access to employment in their host countries. The Temporary Protection Directive that has come into effect by the 27 EU member states in March 2022, that allows Ukrainian refugees legal access to employment within the EU, is an example of what can be achieved if the political will is present. This means that Ukrainians would not be subjected to the informality and precarity that other refugees have faced and continually endure. The main overarching question that this panel seeks to address is: How can we guarantee that ALL refugees have legal access to formal and decent work?